ENVELOPE 
 SERIES 
 
 VoL. XXVI OCTOBER, 1923 
 
 Liberal Education 
 in Japan 
 
 Broadening Tendencies 
 since 1868 
 
 Frank Alanson Lombard 
 
 Professor of English Literature 
 
 DOSHISHA UNIVERSITY 
 
 AMERICAN BOARD COMMISSIONERS 
 r- FOREIGN MISSIONS l4BeaconSt.Boitoji 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Japan ever presents a most fascinating field of 
 study. We never tire of tracing its evolution. 
 The land always interests us, but the people con- 
 siderably more. We marvel at them, the more 
 intimately we know them. They have worked 
 wonders, for example, in education. Are they 
 not destained to point the way to other Eastern 
 peoples in this matter of adjusting a nation’s 
 educational policy and practice to the spirit of 
 the times 
 
 Against an imperial system of education, with 
 its special privileges, its appeal to patriotism, its 
 dominating national purposes, the school of the 
 Christian has had to prove its rightful place in 
 the development of the Japanese people. The 
 struggle of private institutions generally for life 
 and liberty in Japan has been and still is tre- 
 mendous. Yet most encouraging progress has 
 been made, and private schools today are con- 
 sidered by government, as well as by people, to 
 be mighty forces for good. 
 
 We venture to predict that this number of the 
 Envelope Series will gratify many who have 
 long been interested in this struggle of the private 
 school in Japan, and who have desired to trace 
 the development of liberal education under that 
 strongly centrali^ed government. We doubt if 
 any American in Japan is better qualified to 
 write upon the subject than Professor Lombard. 
 Not only has he had broad experience in Japanese 
 educational circles during the past twenty-three 
 A ears, but also has he given himself in an extraor- 
 dinary manner to a study of education in his 
 field. E. F. B. 
 
 Entered as second class mail matter at the Post Office at Boston. Mass. Accept- 
 ance for mailintj at special rates of postage provided for in section 1104. Act of 
 October 3, 1917. authorized on June 21. 1918. The American Board of Commis- 
 sioners for Foreign Missions, 14 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. Printed in U. S A. 
 Annual subscription, ten (lo) cents. 
 
Liberal Education in Japan 
 
 By Frank Alanson Lombard 
 
 Protestantism is a protest against the arbitrary authority 
 of man in the essential relations between man and God. 
 Protestant Christianity is committed to the endeavor to 
 think God’s thoughts not merely after Him but also with 
 Him. Hence the emphasis placed by our churches upon 
 education as a training of the power of thought, the goal 
 of which is action in harmony with truth. Wherever 
 Protestant Missions have gone, they have fostered educa- 
 tion as an essential method of entrance upon co-operation 
 with God. Such education is truly liberal, having no 
 ultimate purpose other than the freeing of man for pro- 
 gressive fellowship with the divine. 
 
 Liberal education stands distinct from every system 
 which seeks to fetter the individual or subordinate him 
 to others in society or state. Hence it is that liberal 
 education often finds itself in conflict with established 
 systems, and is essential to the free development of the 
 individual in any society. 
 
 Peculiar interest attaches to the study of liberal educa- 
 tion in Japan, because Japan stands alone in being a field 
 of Protestant Alissions in which education, as a national 
 system, has already produced a degree of literacy superior 
 to that in the L^nited States or in England, and a body 
 of specialists honored for their efficiency throughout the 
 world. 
 
 In Japan education has long been considered a function 
 of government, and its purpose the welfare of the State. 
 Over twelve hundred years ago. Emperor Tenchi (668-671) 
 opened a school at the capital, and appointed a super- 
 intendent of education. A university, so-called, was 
 
 3 
 
established in 68i; and as early as 701, educational 
 legislation was embodied in a civil code (Taiho Rei) 
 providing for preparatory schools in the provinces, as 
 well as for the central university, all intended for the 
 training of government officials drawn from families of 
 fixed social rank. This practice of bureaucratic education, 
 adopted from China, became firmly established, in spite 
 of the sporadic efforts of individual reformers who saw in 
 education a personal duty and an individual privilege, and 
 continued dominant until the downfall of the Shogunate in 
 1868. 
 
 The Imperial Oath, taken by the young Emperor at the 
 birth of New Japan (1868), was revolutionary merely in 
 its proposal to make the whole world contribute its 
 knowledge unto the welfare of the Empire. 
 
 “Knowledge shall be sought for throughout the world, 
 so that the welfare of the Empire may be promoted.” 
 
 The Struggle Between Two Theories of Education 
 
 From the time when Japan thus committed herself to a 
 policy of education supported by the central government, 
 until the present, great and surprising progress has been 
 made so that the task of mastering the world’s store of 
 knowledge may be said to have been completed. During 
 this period, as during the early centuries, however, there 
 has been a constant struggle between’ two theories of 
 education: the authorized and the liberal. In this struggle 
 the liberal theory is clearly gaining ground; and it is the 
 purpose of this study to show something of the struggle 
 and something of the victory which is now assured. 
 
 A peculiar difficulty confronts us, however, in the fact 
 that history in Japan seldom records the struggle of the 
 minority, save as the victory becomes an integral part of 
 the country’s progressive evolution. Individual or party 
 consciousness is weak, and deemed unworthy in compar- 
 
 4 
 
ision with that social and national consciousness which 
 joys and sorrows, as one, over accomplished effects and 
 ideals yet unattained. Data, of course, exists; but it is 
 never compiled; and the participants in the struggle soon 
 actually forget that there have been days of strife for 
 what is now enjoyed. 
 
 Although in Old Japan there was nothing that in the 
 least resembled popular education, the Shogunate, which 
 preceded the Restoration in 1868, had its authorized 
 schools in which government officials were trained in 
 accord with principles approved by the military authori- 
 ties. There were other schools, in particular that at 
 Mito where for years historical research had been con- 
 ducted and from which had gone forth widely the belief 
 that loyalty to the historic past and the true genius of the 
 nation required the exaltation of the Imperial Family 
 and the subordination of usurping militarism, and the 
 school at Matsushita where Yoshida-Shoin by the force 
 of his own electric personality wrought mightily upon 
 such men for the new Era as Ito and Yamagata. 
 
 In addition to these which, while antagonistic to the 
 Shogunate, were essentially conservative, there were still 
 others of more liberal nature, influenced by contact with 
 Dutch learning. Such was the school of Ogata-Koan. 
 
 Ogata-Koan School 
 
 The early life of Ogata-Koan is of interest as typical of 
 that unrest and eagerness which characterized the students 
 of the transition period. He was born in 1809 of a poor 
 family, though of samurai rank. At the age of fifteen he 
 gained permission to leave home for study as it was 
 evident that his frail physique unfitted him for hard toil. 
 He went to Osaka and united himself to the most famous 
 physician of the place, with whom he studied for about 
 four years. Then, hearing of the fame of Tsuboi, a great 
 
 S 
 
teacher in Yedo, he travelled the long distance on foot 
 that he might learn of him. Too poor to pay the trifling 
 fee, he taught through the country-side for gifts until he 
 had gathered enough in contribution to secure his 
 entrance. Struggling with poverty, he wore the cast-off 
 clothes of others and taught pupils of less ability, in spite 
 of all making himself the recognized scholar of the school. 
 Upon the advice of his teacher, he opened medical practice 
 in Osaka and established a school for the study of medicine 
 and the Dutch language, in 1838. 
 
 Ogata-Koan’s school was a home. Many of his students 
 were poor young men seeking the light in spite of family 
 persecution; and to them he was a father. In the house, • 
 apart from the family rooms, were two dormitory rooms 
 for the students, a dining room often so crowded that the 
 men stood to eat, and rooms for the books which were the 
 chief treasure of the school. This school was maintained 
 for twenty-four years; and in all over three thousand 
 students are said to have been associated with him. 
 Among these was Fukuzawa-Yukichi, the founder of the 
 now well-known Keio Gijuku University in Tokyo. 
 
 Yokoi-Shonan 
 
 Yokoi-Shonan was another great teacher, and a martyr 
 to liberalism. A brilliant student in the provincial school 
 at Kumamoto, he had been sent to the central university 
 in Yedo, but was recalled because of his strong in- 
 dividualism. He opened a private school and gave great 
 offense by his support of western learning. Scorning the 
 barren studies of the old-style schools, he emphasized 
 practical application and gained for his pupils the nick- 
 name of Jitsugakuto — the party of practical study. 
 When Western Powers came into contact with Japan, he 
 favored diplomacy and not war. He did much to shape 
 the policy which opened the ports; and when intercourse 
 
 6 
 
with America was established, he was killed by assassins 
 one afternoon as he returned from his office. Yokoi’s 
 ideas upon education, given in counsel to the ruler of a 
 province, reveal something of what must have been his 
 own influence upon his students. He declares that the 
 fundamental principle of education is the cultivation of 
 the heart in harmony with the universe, that a teacher 
 should be one who by his example can effectively influence 
 his pupils, that education while fostered by schools begins 
 at home, that practical life and true learning are never 
 at variance, but that culture must be genuine to avoid 
 shallow attempts at application, and that the establishment 
 of schools without the personal oversight and genuine 
 interest of the ruler is of no avail. 
 
 Sending Students Abroad 
 
 By the middle of the century private schools had be- 
 come common. Their liberalizing influence was far-reach- 
 ing. Even the government felt the necessity of a change 
 in policy; and, in the hope of controlling the new life, 
 established an institute for the study of languages in 
 
i86o, and began the custom of sending students abroad. 
 This school, though closed by the downfall of the Shogun- 
 ate, was the germ out of which a few years later de- 
 veloped the present Imperial University in Tokyo. 
 
 Fukuzawa Yukichi, whom we have mentioned as a 
 student under Ogata, was teaching Dutch in Yedo in 1858. 
 and the next year began the study of English, which he 
 introduced into his school in 1861. This school, which 
 attained an enrollment of several hundred, was greatly 
 reduced in numbers during the troubled years of the 
 Restoration, but continued its teaching even while the 
 actual conflict w'as being carried on. It was the one and 
 only school to live through from the old era into the 
 new; and its teacher, boldly championing the principles 
 of western learning for practical purposes, became the 
 great apostle of self-reliance and independence during the 
 formative years of reconstruction. 
 
 Influence of the Restoration 
 
 The Restoration was accomplished with little actual 
 confusion. The Shogun Keiki resigned; and the Emperor, 
 who had acceded to the throne in 1867, assumed control 
 of the government, and began the era known as Meiji, 
 The Enlightened Government. It was at this time (April 
 6, 1868) that the Imperial Oath of five articles was taken 
 in a “desire to carry out a reform, without parallel in the 
 annals of Japan.” In pursuance of the fifth article of that 
 Oath, at once, even while fighting continued here and 
 there throughout the country between the Imperial forces 
 and the supporters of the Shogunate, the schools 
 established by the former government in Tokyo were 
 reopened; and in all chief cities of the Empire the central 
 authority opened or reopened schools, long before there 
 was ant'thing like an organized system. 
 
Entrance of Christian Teachers 
 
 Foreign teachers were engaged for certain of these 
 schools; and through them, thus indirectly, Christianity, 
 the forbidden faith, gained entrance to many eager minds. 
 In October, 1869, Or. S. R. Brown was sent by the govern- 
 ment as a teacher to the distant city of Niigatta. Accord- 
 ing to official instructions, American Text Books were 
 used; and their natural references to God and Christianity 
 incited the boys to ask for explanations. Dr. Brown 
 told them that he could not explain such subjects in school 
 hours, but opened a Bible class in his home on Sundays. 
 C'apt. L. L. James, who in 1871 went to Kumamoto, had 
 a most dramatic experience. In a school for foreign learn- 
 ing established with the avowed purpose of opposing the 
 West and In particular Christianity, he so lived and 
 taught that in 1876 nearly forty of his finest students 
 pledged their lives to Christ in face of persecution, im- 
 prisonment, and degradation. These men, leaving all In 
 the freedom wherewith Christ had set them free, are many 
 of them still with us — heroes of the faith who through 
 the years have led the struggle for a free Japan — KosakI, 
 Eblna, Miyagawa and Kanamori, names still to conjure 
 with. 
 
 Meanwhile the government was at work upon a system 
 of education. In 1871, a department of education was 
 established; and in 1872, an educational code was pro- 
 mulgated. The Preamble to this Code was remarkable as 
 a declaration of liberalism in its emphasis upon the prin- 
 ciple of educational equality, in accord with which educa- 
 tion was to be universal and no longer the special privilege 
 of any one class of the people. 
 
 Private Schools and the Government 
 
 At the time of the promulgation of this educational 
 code, all private schools were ordered closed, on the 
 
 9 
 
Doshisha, Kyoto 
 
 Old Campus with Recitation Hall, Science Hall, Chapel 
 
 ground that all schools should be brought into accord 
 with the new system and none minister to an aristocracy 
 of learning. This, though excellent in theory, reduced 
 all education to an act of authority. Freedom of religious 
 faith, denied during the Shogunate for political reasons, 
 was granted after the Restoration; but in the government 
 schools organized at this time all religious instruction was 
 strictly forbidden. Japan had good reason to fear the 
 influence of organized religion in affairs of State; and her 
 study of educational systems, both in Europe and America, 
 strengthened her natural determination to exclude religion 
 from her schools. To this there could have been no 
 objection, had not the expressed liberalism of the new 
 policy been denied by the narrow enforcement which for 
 years hampered all education not strictly under the control 
 of the government or in perfect accord with its authorita- 
 tive system. 
 
 Private Schools Restored 
 
 It soon became clear that it would be utterly impossible, 
 
 10 
 
because of lack of money and of trained men, for the 
 government to carry out in detail its excellent system; and 
 the help of private schools was again eagerly welcomed, 
 wherever they confined themselves to teaching the ele- 
 ments of Western language and science and excluded all 
 religious influences. The missionaries of the period, 
 though still forbidden to preach the hated doctrine, had no 
 difficulty in the maintenance in the open ports of schools 
 for the teaching of language. These, in fact, were easily 
 self-supporting. 
 
 The difficulties which confronted private education of a 
 Christian character in those days of readjustment can 
 perhaps be illustrated no more clearly than by a review 
 of the struggle through which the Doshisha was established 
 in Kyoto, the ancient seat of Buddhism, the home of 
 Emperors for over one thousand years. 
 
 History of Doshisha an Illustration 
 
 Joseph Neesima, who ten years before had left Japan, 
 risking his life for knowledge of the Truth, returned in 
 1874 with a burning zeal to found a school which should 
 do for other young men of Japan what the Christian 
 schools of New England had done for him. He came 
 with the backing of the American Board of Commissioners 
 for Foreign Missions; but upon him alone depended the 
 successful launching of such an enterprise. The edict 
 boards, forbidding Christianity had been removed, and 
 there was nominal religious freedom; but no foreigner 
 was allowed at that time to reside outside of the treaty- 
 ports save as a teacher in the employ of a Japanese school. 
 
 It was necessary that the school, which should do the 
 work he had in mind, should be a Japanese school, that 
 it should be a Christian school, and that it should have 
 Christian teachers. Neesima was no common man. New 
 England had given him her best; but of him President 
 
 II 
 
Seelye of Amherst College declared, “You cannot gild gold.” 
 His service in 1872 to the second Japanese Embassy, 
 then investigating the educational institutions of foreign 
 lands, had secured him the lasting friendship of men high 
 in government position. From them he had received over 
 the Imperial Seal, formal pardon for having left Japan 
 and permission to teach Christianity when he should 
 return. Such a man was not to be ignored; and the 
 governor of Kyoto, influenced by a counselor who had be- 
 come greatly interested in Christianity, gave his approval 
 to the plan for the establishing of a school in the city. 
 But that approval was not sufficient. The consent of the 
 central government had to be secured. To secure that 
 consent Mr. Neesima visited the head of the department 
 of education who, in spite of personal friendship, told him 
 “that it would be impossible to grant permission for a 
 Christian school to be opened in the city of Kyoto; it 
 was regarded as the sacred city of the Empire; and he 
 feared great opposition and prejudice on the part of the 
 people.” For three days, Neesima gave him no rest 
 until at last permission was hesitatingly given, on condi- 
 
 Lookinc E.^st Through Side Gate, Doshisha 
 
 12 
 
tion that great care should be taken not to arouse popular 
 antagonism. 
 
 Even then there v/as great delay before permission could 
 be secured for the residence of the first foreign teacher; 
 and for vears such permission had to be re^secured from 
 time to time, often amid great anxiety lest it be refused. 
 The school was opened in 1875 ; but for a time no religious 
 teaching was carried on in its class-rooms lest ground of 
 attack should be given to the hostile forces of conservatism 
 within the city. 
 
 In 1877, the Counselor of the city government, through 
 whose influence many favors had been secured, lost his 
 position; and as late as 1879 there was difficulty in regard 
 to residential permits for foreign teachers. Yet in 1884, 
 a public meeting was held in the city of Kyoto, attended 
 by over fifty officials and leading men of business, to 
 present the appeal for popular support on behalf of a 
 Christian University. The history of the Doshlsha from 
 that day until the present, when it stands upon a govern- 
 ment charter as a Christian University privileged to give 
 degrees equal to any in the land, might be taken in 
 illustration of our entire theme — the growth of Liberal 
 Education in Japan. 
 
 Value of the Imperial Rescript Upon Education 
 
 Japan, in her endeavor to separate church and state, to 
 exclude religion from ethics in her government system of 
 education, failed to realize the distinction between essence 
 and form, and forgot that in reality religion, though 
 unnamed, had been the source and authority of all that 
 was vital in the ethics of her older education. Through 
 the falling away of old restraints, through the weakening 
 of old Ideals and especially through the rise of new rela- 
 tions in politics, business, and society, moral distintegra- 
 tion seemed to threaten the country. Serious and well- 
 
 13 
 
intended efforts were made to revitalize ethical teaching; 
 but the result was so far from satisfactory that the 
 government realized the danger. That there might be 
 a standard for all, strong, it was hoped, to avert the peril, 
 an Imperial Rescript upon Education was issued in 1890, 
 as follows: 
 
 “Know ye. Our subjects: 
 
 Our Imperial Ancestors have founded Our Empire on a 
 basis broad and everlasting, and have deeply and firmly 
 implanted virtue; Our subjects ever united in loyalty and 
 filial piety have from generation to generation illustrated 
 the beauty thereof. This is the glory of the fundamental 
 character of Our Empire, and herein also lies the source of 
 Our education. 
 
 “Ye, Our subjects, be filial to your parents, affectionate 
 to your brothers and sisters; as husbands and wives be 
 harmonious, as friends true; bear yourselves in modesty 
 and moderation; extend your benevolence to all; pursue 
 learning and cultivate arts, and thereby develop intellectual 
 faculties and perfect moral powers; furthermore, advance 
 public good and promote common interests; always re- 
 spect the Constitution and observe the laws; should 
 emergency arise, offer yourselves courageously to the 
 State; and thus guard and maintain the prosperity of 
 Our Imperial Throne coeval with heaven and earth. So 
 shall ye not only be Our good and faithful subjects, but 
 render illustrious the best traditions of your forefathers. 
 
 “The Way here set forth is indeed the teaching be- 
 queathed by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be observed alike 
 by Their Descendants and the subjects, infallible for all 
 ages and true in all places. It is Our wish to lay it to 
 heart in all reverence, in common with you. Our subjects, 
 that we may all attain to the same virtue. 
 
 “The 30th day of the loth month of the 23rd year of 
 Meiji. (The 30th of October, 1890.)” 
 
 This remarkable edict, which still stands as the only 
 
 H 
 
authoritative basis of instruction In ethics throughout the 
 schools of Japan, is worthy of study. It contains nothing 
 to which any need object; it contains much to which all 
 can give hearty assent; but its limitations are evident. 
 Avoiding direct reference to any superhuman sanction, it 
 rests all upon a loyalty, effective largely through its 
 religious element. A practical admission that education 
 without religion is a failure, it begs the question in the 
 interests of conservatism. It is rumored that His Majesty 
 admitted the temporary efficacy of the rescript; and later 
 developments have shown the necessity of its reinforce- 
 ment; but at the time when the country was in reaction 
 after a period of too rapid adoption of Western thought, 
 it did its work and steadied social evolution, though 
 restricting the growing movement of liberalism in educa- 
 tion. 
 
 Effect of Special Privileges in Imperial System Upon 
 Private Schools 
 
 The demands upon New Japan were many and varied. 
 Learning from the West with all possible rapidity, she 
 found it necessary to develop her military power in order 
 to protect herself and to gain recognition for her rights. 
 In this, following the example of Germany, she made 
 military service compulsory. All young men, upon reach- 
 ing the age of seventeen, were upon examination required 
 to take three years of military training, and thereafter 
 hold themselves subject to draft for service, up to the age 
 of forty. But, as a premium upon education and that 
 military training might not interfere with ordinary school 
 duties, students in government schools were allowed to 
 defer their period of training and, upon graduation from 
 schools of middle or higher grade, present themselves 
 as volunteers entitled to the privilege of but one year’s 
 service and that in the less strenuous duties for which their 
 better education had supposedly fitted them. 
 
 IS 
 
Class Grades 
 
 The social fabric in Japan has never been branded with 
 the caste system; and yet social rank is a very real thing 
 with privileges of no slight value. There are in general 
 four official grades: Shinnin, Shokunin, Sonin, and Hannin. 
 Enrollment in even the lowest of these is an honor and 
 adds much to one’s individual standing in any Japanese 
 community. To all regular teachers in government 
 schools, even of elementary grade, the rank of Hannin is 
 given; and the head teachers in middle schools are given 
 Sonin, or equivalent rank. Furthermore, the graduates 
 of government schools of middle grade have civil-service 
 status in any employ upon which they may enter which 
 places them at once at advantage over others less fortun- 
 ate. 
 
 Close co-ordination within the government school 
 system makes promotion, upon examination, easy from 
 one grade to the next highest, while the privilege of en- 
 trance is denied all not from accredited institutions. 
 
 A Disadvantage to Private Institutions 
 
 These were some of the conditions which, especially 
 during the last decade of the century, placed all private 
 educational Institutions at a great disadvantage, though it 
 should be stated that recognition, with its attendant 
 privileges of deferred military service and civil-service 
 standing, was usually granted to schools which were really 
 worthy and which would conform to certain reasonable 
 requirements. That decade, however, was one of anti- 
 foreign reaction and of suspicion concerning the influence 
 of Christianity. The tension, in matters of education, 
 reached its climax in an Imperial Ordinance regulating 
 private schools, which was issued August 2nd, 1899. 
 
 16 
 
The Imperial Ordinance and Religious Liberty 
 
 This Ordinance, in spite of its insistence upon red tape, 
 contained nothing to call for serious objection on the part 
 of those engaged in private education, except Art. XVII, 
 which read; 
 
 “The Minister of Education may issue rules necessary 
 for operating the present regulations.” 
 
 The significance of that article was apparent when in 
 the Instructions, appended to the Regulations by the 
 Minister of Education, one read: 
 
 “It being essential from the point of view of educational 
 administration that general education should be indepen- 
 dent of religion, religious instruction must not be given, 
 or religious ceremonies performed, at government schools, 
 public schools, or schools whose curricula are regulated 
 by provisions of law, even outside the regular course of 
 instruction.” 
 
 Religious liberty is, at least nominally, guaranteed by 
 the Imperial Constitution: “Japanese subjects shall, with- 
 
 Doshisha, Main Entrance (East) From Imadegawa 
 St. Library Building, Cost, $100,000. Gift 
 OF One Man a Japanese 
 
 17 
 
In limits riot prejudicial to peace and order, and not 
 antagonistic to their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of 
 religious belief.” But the working out of the guarantee 
 has naturally been attended with some difficulty especially 
 in connection with the exclusion of religion from all schools 
 within the government system. Religious disqualifications 
 had been written into the original draft of the ordinance 
 of 1899, but not allowed to stand. Their place had been 
 taken by the Instructions of the Minister of Education; 
 and there is little doubt that they were Intended as a 
 direct attack upon schools under Christian management. 
 
 Effect of Ordinance and Instructions 
 
 Prior to this time several Christian schools, the Doshisha 
 among them, had been granted government recognition 
 as Middle Schools with privileges ; but, as the new instruc- 
 tions forbade all religious instruction and services, “even 
 outside the regular course of instruction,” most of these 
 schools felt obliged to surrender their valuable position of 
 privilege. The protest was natural and nearly unanimous, 
 though in a few cases the plan was adopted of separating 
 the boarding department from the school proper, and 
 relegating religious instruction to the former. 
 
 A petition was presented to the Minister of Education 
 that the Instruction might be restricted in its application 
 to schools supported by public funds. This was refused; 
 but regulations were soon issued granting the privilege of 
 admission to high government schools unto graduates of 
 the private schools in question, though the official designa- 
 tion of Middle School was withheld. In the spring of 
 1902, however, regulations were issued requiring the grad- 
 uates of such schools to pass a special examination, with 
 additional fee, as well as to pass the regular examination 
 of entrance to high government school. For a time no 
 relief from this discrimination could be secured. 
 
 18 
 
Recognition of Private Special Schools 
 
 The government had, however, established various 
 “special” schools, of equal standing with the regular high 
 government schools; and regulations governing admission 
 to these were modified to include among the eligible 
 “graduates of schools recognized by the Minister of 
 Education as equal or superior to Middle Schools.” This 
 recognition was speedily secured by many private schools 
 of good educational standing; and the attendant privilege 
 of entrance to “Special Schools” proved an entering wedge 
 to further concessions. As these “Special Schools” be- 
 longed to the government system and were of equal rank 
 with the high government schools, consistency required 
 the extension of the entrance privilege; and, in January, 
 1904, such an extension was officially granted. Thus did 
 the Department of Education yield to pressure, and 
 recognize in a practical way that discrimination should 
 not be exercised against private schools on the ground of 
 their right to freedom of religious instruction. The 
 struggle was a clear victory for liberalism, especially as 
 private schools were allowed to establish their own 
 “special departments” enjoying equal privilege with 
 government institutions as regards deferred military service. 
 Even schools of Theology were recognized as “Special 
 Schools.” 
 
 As the student looks back upon this struggle which at 
 the time brought much anxiety, it is easy to see that 
 there were indeed two sides to the question. The govern- 
 ment had to deal with scores of private schools neither 
 Christian nor educationally worthy; and certain Mission 
 Schools, choosing to relegate all religious instruction to 
 extra-curricula activity in distinct boarding departments, 
 and thus to retain their government privileges, declared 
 that they suffered in no way religiously by so doing. It 
 was easv in the interests of missionary motives, to take 
 
 19 
 
offense at what in a reversed position in the West would 
 have seemed perfectly right and natural. 
 
 Increasing Exemption From Discrimination , 
 
 The growth of miscellaneous private schools continued 
 and constituted a very real problem. The government, 
 accustomed to rule by regulation with exception, rather 
 than by a liberal principle, continued to issue regulations 
 that appeared to discriminate against worthy as well as 
 unworthy institutions, as, for example, in the regulation 
 that only graduates of Government High Schools for 
 Girls could take examination of teachers’ license. Yet, it 
 should be said that in the same year, a Mission School, on 
 the basis of scholarship, received that privilege, though 
 without the name: “High School.” It became clear that, 
 in spite of a strictly authoritative system, the government 
 was increasingly willing to grant exemption from dis- 
 crimination to all worthy institutions regardless of their 
 merely religious attitude. An understanding patience 
 with the problems of the government usually brought its 
 reward. 
 
 The government’s attempt to exclude religious instruc- 
 tion from all schools within its system was again brought 
 into question in 1910, when, impressed with the need of 
 what might take its place under another name, the educa- 
 tional authorities urged all teachers to use their influence 
 for the repair of Shinto shrines and for fostering the habit 
 of visiting such shrines. That this was not intended as a 
 blow at Christianity, but a recognition that forces to be 
 found only in religion were needed by the State, was clear- 
 ly evident the following year when the Vice-Minister of 
 Home Affairs sent a circular letter to the press, declaring 
 his conviction that “education and religion should co- 
 operate in the training of the young and that ethical 
 instruction without the inspiration of religion was serious- 
 
 20 
 
ly defective,” and calling a conference of representatives 
 of the Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian Faiths with a view 
 to securing a better mutual acquaintance and an inter- 
 change of opinion regarding the ethical-religious questions 
 of the day. 
 
 Conference of Faiths With Dept, of Education 
 
 Such a conference was held March 25-26, 1912; and 
 passed the following resolutions: 
 
 “We acknowledge that the will of the government 
 authorities, which led us to hold the conference of the 
 representatives of the three religions, is in conformity with 
 the principle of the freedom of religious beliefs, to respect 
 the authority of religion which each possesses, to promote 
 national morality, and to improve public discipline, with- 
 out departing from our original creeds; and that statesmen, 
 religionists, and educators, without interfering with one 
 another, should maintain the honor of the Imperial House- 
 hold and contribute to the progress of the times. As this 
 is in accord with our own purpose we comply with the 
 request of the authorities and promdse to make all possible 
 effort for perfectly discharging the onerous duty of work- 
 ing for the advancement of the nation, always adhering 
 to our own belief. Simultaneously, we hope that the 
 Government authorities will never cease their endeavor 
 to assist in realizing the ultimate object of this conference. 
 With these principles and this object in view, we have 
 made the following decisions: 
 
 (a) To foster and develop our respective creeds, to 
 promote the welfare of the State, and to contribute to the 
 development of national morality. 
 
 (b) To hope that the authorities concerned will respect 
 religion, promote friendly relations between the statesmen, 
 religionists, and educationalists, and contribute to the pro- 
 gress of the nation.” 
 
 21 
 
To an extent not generally recognized, the resolutions 
 were based upon a draft prepared by the Christian 
 representatives. They are characterized by a remarkable 
 spirit of independence and liberalism. The principle of 
 religious freedom is strongly expressed; and absolute 
 equality in loyalty of endeavor is assumed. While of 
 seeming insignificance, the fact of this conference, at the 
 suggestion of the government, and the utterance of such 
 resolutions were of exceeding importance in their indirect 
 bearings, as they secured to Christianity a recognized 
 status and to Christian educational effort a place of 
 importance never before accorded it. 
 
 Its Good Indirect Results 
 
 The conference produced no direct results. Such were 
 not to be expected. But the Christian Movement in 
 Japan, for the following year, reported a new momentum 
 in Christian education, a hopefulness and aggressiveness 
 of spirit, with a marked advance in the spiritual life of the 
 
 Girl-s’ School, Doshisha, Corner of James Hall Looking 
 West Toward Pacific Hall 
 
 23 
 
schools. The burden of discrimination had clearly lifted. 
 Christian Education Associations, which had previously 
 been merely local, took national scope; and the National 
 Christian Educational Association (men’s) at its annual 
 meeting, as though conscious of new power and possibili- 
 ties, appointed a Commission of Investigation and Recom- 
 mendation (A) “to investigate thoroughly the general 
 condition of Christian education as compared with govern- 
 ment and non-Christian private education; (B) to draw 
 up a comprehensive policy in the larger sense for Christian 
 education in Japan; (C) to make recommendations of a 
 more minor character; (D) to study thoroughly the condi- 
 tion of the religious education in the Christian schools and 
 make recommendations for improvement.” 
 
 Recognition of Private Universities 
 
 The recognition of Private “Special Schools,” with 
 privileges similar to those granted Special Schools within 
 the government system, was followed by the recognition 
 of Private Universities (Doshisha was so recognized in 
 1912) empowered to grant degrees which should signify 
 the school of their origin, and the Department of Educa- 
 tion, in 1914, suggested certain changes in the govern- 
 ment system looking toward far greater liberalism. Two 
 plans were presented, one by an Investigation Committee 
 of the Department, the other by an Investigation Com- 
 mittee appointed by Parliament. The latter was far more 
 radical and would have at once placed private education 
 in a position to compete, to the extent of its actual ability, 
 with the highest government institutions. 
 
 Before action was taken upon these proposals, a third, 
 known as the Kikuchi Bill, was presented. In 1915, the 
 Department’s Educational Investigation Committee 
 adopted the first article of the Kikuchi Bill which pro- 
 vided that “An institution whose standard of admission 
 
 23 
 
is graduation from a middle school or its equivalent, and 
 which offers a course of four years or more, shall be 
 recognized as a Daigaku (University).” This was sub- 
 mitted to the Department that a government bill might be 
 drafted therefrom. Such a bill was ready by September 
 21, 1915, but final action was deferred that more funda- 
 mental improvements might be secured. This was a 
 disappointment to the friends of liberal education; yet 
 caused no unrest, for the general trend was clearly ap- 
 parent and in the Interests of liberalization. 
 
 Ultimate Victory of Liberalism 
 
 In 1917, the National Ministry appointed a new Special 
 Educational Congress responsible directly to the Premier. 
 This Congress appointed a Committee of Investigation; 
 and, as a result, new Imperial Ordinances were promul- 
 gated on December 5, 1918. These Ordinances concern- 
 ing universities and higher schools remain in force and 
 constitute the ultimate victory of liberalism so far as 
 government recognition is concerned. Private educational 
 effort may now establish schools of any grade, with all 
 the privileges enjoyed by those in the government system, 
 including the right to confer degrees which in the reading 
 need not differ from those issued by the Department of 
 Education itself. 
 
 Way Now Open Upon Merit 
 
 The government requirements, though minute and 
 somewhat exacting, are just and right: a scholarly 
 standard must be maintained satisfactory to government 
 examiners, and a proper endowment, proportionate to the 
 scope of the institution, must be held subject to govern- 
 ment audit in the form of cash, national bonds, or bonds 
 approved by the Minister of Education. It will doubtless 
 
 24 
 
In Tokyo 
 
 be some time before private institutions carry the prestige 
 of the government system; but the way is now open upon 
 merit; and the challenge lies before those who would make 
 Christian education a moulding influence in the country. 
 Never in the past has such interest in the undertaking 
 been shown by the growing body of Japanese Christians 
 who now are doing valiantly to make their institutions 
 equal to the task. Kobe College, for girls, is an illustra- 
 tion where the alumnae have themselves purchased a 
 magnificent site for college expansion; and another is the 
 Doshisha, dear to all friends of the American Board, in 
 its present effort to raise in connection with its approach- 
 ing Jubilee its endowment beyond the point required by 
 the government for the retention of its university charter. 
 
 Yet Need to Continue Liberal Pressure 
 
 There is need, indeed, that those interested in liberal 
 education, as distinct from that held in authoritative 
 control, should at this time exert all their strength. Soon 
 after the new regulations were issued, there was announced 
 
 25 
 
a plan for great expansion in Higher Education within the 
 government system. The plan calls for 
 
 1. Sixteen new Higher Schools. 
 
 2. Seventeen new Special Schools of College grade. 
 
 3. The raising of several Special Schools to the rank of 
 universities. 
 
 4. The addition of new departments to several of the 
 existing Imperial Universities. 
 
 5. The sending of 440 Imperial University graduates 
 abroad for further study. 
 
 6. The provision of 400 scholarships in the Imperial 
 Universities. 
 
 7. The appropriation of ^44,000,000 to be spread over 
 six years, to meet the expense of the undertaking. 
 
 Dr. T. H. Haden, commenting upon this situation in 
 the Christian Movement in the Japanese Empire, 1920, 
 writes: “At the end of five or six years, when this 
 scheme has been carried out, higher education will be in 
 easy reach of thousands of Japanese young men, who 
 otherwise would have had no opportunity for vocational, 
 or college, or university training. It will raise the in- 
 tellectual status of the nation; it will help to prepare for 
 the extension of the franchise, which is now being de- 
 manded so insistently; it will help to make “Democracy 
 safe” for Japan. It is a sincere and large attempt to 
 meet the needs of the nation in the realm of higher educa- 
 tion. From these standpoints, it is admirable.” 
 
 “But,” Dr. Haden continues, “it must not be forgotten 
 that it is also the boldest attempt the Government has 
 ever made to completely dominate the higher intellectual 
 life of the Japanese Empire, and, possibly, of the whole 
 Orient. Nor must it be forgotten that the education that 
 is provided in these government institutions has no theistic 
 basis — it is godless. The situation that is developing is 
 full of opportunity, but it is also full of danger. It is a 
 challenge to Christians to rise to the opportunity and 
 
 26 
 
neutralize the danger. It must be done, or Japan will be 
 more non-Christian twenty years from now than it Is 
 today.” 
 
 I quote this comment not because I fear the danger, 
 but because, in closing this study, I would emphasize the 
 necessity that liberal education should do more than 
 neutralize the danger. It should overcome It for positive 
 good. This can and will be done, for what liberal private 
 schools have secured for themselves, they will yet be 
 instrumental in securing for all educational institutions in 
 Japan. The struggle of liberal education for true freedomi 
 wherein to exercise youth for fellowship with a present- 
 working and forward-moving God, is not confined to 
 Japan alone. It is a world struggle, full of perplexing 
 problems of adjustment. In America and in Europe no 
 less than In the Orient; but the issue in Japan Is more 
 clearly drawn and more, seemingly, depends upon the 
 outcome. The educational efforts of Protestant Missions 
 and of the Protestant Churches In Japan should be un- 
 mistakably liberal, free from sectarianism and prejudiced 
 propaganda, since only so can they effectively continue the 
 service which they have already so ably rendered. 
 
 In no mission field does the progress of Christ’s King- 
 dom depend more upon the advance of liberal education; 
 and the most effective co-operation yet to be rendered 
 by those who support the Great Undertaking of winning 
 the World for Him, is the co-operation which shall make 
 strong the forces of freedom wherein Christ sets men free. 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 The Christian Movement in Japan, 1900-1923. 
 
 Compilations of Educational Law — Japanese Depart- 
 ment of Education. 
 
 Japanese Education, Baron KIkuchi. 
 
 Neesima J. H., J. D. Davis. 
 
 Pre-Meiji Education in Japan, F. A. Lombard. 
 
 27